2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder

03.21.09 | No Comments

Lamborghini has a talent for making very fast cars, and giving them very long names. The 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder, henceforth referred to as simply the Gallardo Spyder, is the newest variant of the Gallardo line, and it seeks to do something different: take the white-knuckle thrill of driving a Lamborghini, and mate it with high luxury. And it looks like they’ve done it.

The Gallardo line was adapted to the LP560-4 variant last year, and the Spyder is the convertible version of that model. The car is powered by a 5.2-liter V10 which pumps out 560 metric horsepower (hence the name), which converts to 552 horsepower in the American measurement. This engine is a 0.2-liter increase over the previous generation Gallardo and now features direct fuel injection. Combine these changes with an advanced computer control unit, and you get better fuel economy, lower emissions, and a more responsive throttle.

The previous Gallardo Spyder suffered from being more impressive on paper than on the road. Sure, it had 500 horsepower, but it was heavy and a bit clumsy. The new Gallardo Spyder has more horsepower, and on top of that has been heavily re-engineered so that the driver can feel every single one of those ponies. You can hit 0-to-60 mph in under four seconds, and once you reach that point you can scream around corners with the best of them thanks to the suspension’s Sport mode. That Sport mode, when paired with the vehicle’s all-wheel drive and computer-maintained stability control gives you a heck of a ride.

One problem that a lot of convertibles have is that they lose body rigidity compared to their coupe counterparts once the roof comes off. Lamborghini engineers understood this danger so spent a lot of time developing a spaceframe structure that retains the coupe’s rigid chassis and opens up the sky to the driver.

There’s not much to complain about when it comes to the new Gallardo Spyder. The ride is tight, the power is ample, and it is a lot of fun to drive. The only problem is that the starting model costs $200,000. Other than that though, it’s a fine car.